Welcome to Just Commodores, a site specifically designed for all people who share the same passion as yourself.

New Posts Contact us

Just Commodores Forum Community

It takes just a moment to join our fantastic community

Register

Engine upgrades: all comments welcome

dassaur

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
1,268
Reaction score
1,144
Points
113
Location
Sydney
Members Ride
VF Calais V V8 Wagon
I've decided I'm going to DIY some engine upgrades. (L77). I want to be able to say to myself, 'yeh, I did that'
I still need to speak to my tuner, but this is what I'm planning:
  • Lunati camshaft - 219/223 .612/.615 112+1 218/226 .598”/.598” 112 +2 from cam motion
  • Machine work on the heads (machining chamber to 64cc) and install springs (dual PAC .660 platinums)
  • Rollmaster timing chain kit (single row CS1190)
  • 3 bolt arp cam bolts ARP 134-1003
  • LS2 chain dampener (12588670)
  • LS3 Valley plate (12599296)
  • LS3 PCV hose 12599298
  • Melling m295 oil pump
  • Delete the oil pressure relief in the sump (GM 96041864 fits perfectly)
  • ARP head bolts 134-3610
  • Pushrods to suit (wont know until I measure) (ended up being 7.3" went with manley CrMo)
  • GM buckets 12595365
  • Johnson (the real ones, not hylift johnson) 2110 lifters
  • Powerbond regular HB HB1117N
  • Balancer bolt 12557840
Misc gaskets:
  • Cam retainer plate 12589016
  • Head Gaskets 12610046 x2
  • Timing cover gasket 12633904
  • Crankshaft seal 29602
  • Intake manifold gaskets ACDELCO 19256623
  • Oil pan gasket 12612350
  • Water pump gaskets 251663

items added due to members:
  • Oil pickup brace/additional bolt

Other misc such such as head gaskets, front timing seal gaskets etc, hb bolt etc.
It's already got CHE trunnion bearings.

Plan is to remove ECU, take to tuner, flash a theoritcal suitable tune, reinstall & then drive it to him and put it on the dyno for a full workup. Should be able to hit 7000rpm easily.
I welcome all thoughts and comments, suggestions to make it easier and tips and tricks to installing!

My plan is to do it in the car. Remove radiator, swing condenser out of the way. Drop sump a little by undoing engine mounts, jacking engine and chocking with wood.

I'm in no rush to do it so I've got alerts on amazon & other US retailers set up, hopefully I can get some good prices. By my calculations the parts & machine work will be around $4-5k
 
Last edited:

MrBags

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2018
Messages
1,243
Reaction score
2,261
Points
113
Age
45
Location
Melbourne
Members Ride
VE SSV Z SERIES
Possibly consider changeover on some cnc heads? Might be worth looking into.
 

hjtrbo

Donating Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
553
Reaction score
579
Points
93
Members Ride
FG XR6T / HJ Ute / VF2 R8
Solid roller and turn it to 9000 :p
 

[paradox]

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
655
Reaction score
365
Points
63
Location
Sydney
Members Ride
VF2 SSV-R
2 bolt oil pickup bracket, warspeed do one, im sure there are others
 

RevNev

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2020
Messages
2,499
Reaction score
3,312
Points
113
Location
Adelaide
Members Ride
VF II SSV Redline Ute
Should be able to hit 7000rpm easily.

I don't know if your intended combo will make power to 7000rpm

We pulled a VE2 6.0 litre manual on the dyno the other day and made 330rwkw at 6250rpm. You could spin it around to 6500rpm in low gears but didn't make power up there. It's E85 compatible and made 339rwkw an extra 9kw on E85.

That had stock heads with a valve job and .030" milled off the face.
Camshaft is 229/235 @ .050", .585" lift on 112LC
Had a full Pacemaker 1.75" Tri-y and 2.5" catless exhaust, OTR and tune.
 

dassaur

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
1,268
Reaction score
1,144
Points
113
Location
Sydney
Members Ride
VF Calais V V8 Wagon
.

That had stock heads with a valve job and .030" milled off the face
Interesting. 64cc chamber I think equates to. 030 milled, right?
Having done a lot of reading with US cointerparts they seem to get there with a similar build to mine.
I guess we'll see!

I don't want a cam that big at all either, being a street auto.
 

VF Sleeper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2021
Messages
286
Reaction score
483
Points
63
Location
Sydney
Members Ride
VF Calais
I like the choice of a mild cam. Low rpm torque is the go for the auto. Driving on the street, we spend a lot of time in the 1000 to 2000rpm rev range. I have a similar 118/118 .
 

07GTS

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Messages
4,957
Reaction score
6,512
Points
113
Location
Australia
Members Ride
VEGTS BUILT BLOWN E85
looking at the specs u have -3 deg overlap which wont help top end, also a late opening exhaust and early closing intake which all limit the air getting in to make power up top so might rev up there but not make power, would be a street cam tho should keep manners and make decent wide torque and power to around 6000 i think, id almost recommend a little more overlap as it can help torque down low also if aimed right, also just so u know i ran those cam specs thru my program and the ramp rate is very high 219 deg with 612 lift will kill valvetrain lifespan so may not be the best option for a street car, a bit more duration can spread the ramp out and make it much better on components and gain u some power/torque
 
Top